


the souls' map

by jenomeow



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, so don't mind the pairings it's one for each chapter, the chapters can be read individually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-11-09 04:08:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 8,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20847287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenomeow/pseuds/jenomeow
Summary: In which I write a soulmate au for every #00FFTOBER day that inspires me.





	1. fairy tale

**Author's Note:**

> this is seriously the best way to keep practicing my writing without having to write a 200k words fanfic like i tend to do :D
> 
> tbh this will probably have a lot of other pairings idk

** _Day 2, fairy tale. _ **

_ ❝ you don't see colors until you meet your soulmate❞_

People stopped believing in love a while ago. 

Every kind of love disappeared and now things worked by convenience: the parents took care of the children because that was what they were told to do by the law. The people got married because it had always been like that. People made allies instead of friends. Even dogs were less seen on the streets and houses, because people stopped loving animals as well.

Love wasn't a thing anymore. Now the only thing left was indifference and boring tones— literally.

But Johnny always believed that there were people trying to change the world. And his biggest example was his elementary school teacher, Mrs. Brown, a kind lady that had a cute smile and told the kids how colors used to exist, way before love disappeared.

In this world, people could only see in black and white, and the promise of bright tones was reserved for people who found love once again, who could connect with someone in such a beautiful way that their souls would stop being blind, and then, they'd see all the colors in the world, different pigments and not only black and white.

It was a fairy tale, though, because no one ever saw something in any other color. It was something teachers said to little kids before putting them to sleep at nap time.

Johnny was in love with that fairy tale, and he would wait all the time if that meant he could see colors. If that meant he would meet his special person.

He thought he'd know right away who was said person, but it wasn’t like that: it was at a random cafe close to their college. Yuta was sleeping with his head on the table while Doyoung tried to study and Taeyong was laughing beside him. Johnny had met him in a rainy and cliche day, when he was in the library and Taeyong fled through the door, being chased by a very angry and big stray dog, both of them soaked. He looked directly at the front desk, ready to be scolded for the mess he was making, and Johnny saw his bright and wide open eyes, full of nervousness and shyness, and oh, he could have swore his breath got caught in his throat for a second, in the most cliche way ever, just like that.

And then, several months later, the fairy tale was proved right when Johnny realized— he was madly in love with that man. It was love what he felt, it was love every passing second. It was love when he was with Taeyong. 

Johnny looked up from his open book, surprised by his own realization, but everything was the same; Yuta was still sleeping, Doyoung was still studying, Taeyong was still laughing at his phone and the world was still keeping its way. But now everything was bright. So, so bright Johnny let go of the hold he had on his pencil, shocked. The gray, black and white were gone, only tiny portions of the things colored in those three tones.

He looked at Taeyong, who was looking back at him as if he knew what was happening, and the other gave Johnny his best smile, with his lips stretching in a cute way, and what color was that? What color was the one that adorned Taeyong's lips? Johnny didn't know, but he was sure that he would never see something as beautiful as that, as the colors that were part of Taeyong, from the color of his lips, the color of his skin, to the color of his eyes.

"Johnny?" Taeyong called.

"It's so bright" he mumbled, drunk in the beauty of Taeyong, the new found feeling and the intensity of everything surrounding him. The look in Taeyong's eyes got softer, kinder.

"It is, right?" was Taeyong's reply, taking Johnny's hand in his and giving him a light squeeze, that felt like fireworks and colors and the sudden realization that this was real. The fairy tale was real. Love was real, and the colors too. And Johnny had the rest of his life to discover all that.


	2. blessing & curse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Was it a blessing, though, if the only thing he could feel was pain? And was it a curse if said pain meant something beautiful?
> 
> markhyuck, violence, blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this didn't go as expected but then again, when does it? *cowboy emoji*

** _Day 3, blessing & curse_ **

_❝you can feel your soulmate's pain as if it was your own❞_

Donghyuck wasn't the kind of guy who got into a lot of troubles.

As a kid, he enjoyed sports and playing with his friends in the park. Naturally, he got hurt quite a lot, but it was never something bigger than some bruises and cuts that healed with time and a kiss from his mother. So yeah, great pain wasn't something he knew— by himself, that is.

You can only feel pain if you're alive, so the common said was that if it hurt, it meant good. People said it was a blessing to have a connection with your soulmate, even if it hurt a little. They often laughed about the pain their soulmate caused, because oh no they cut themselves with a piece of paper again. Or oh no they're so clumsy, they tripped and fell face down to the ground. It was somehow cute, feeling and knowing when your soulmate was hurt.

Unless you were Donghyuck and had to deal with a soulmate who broke his ribs, cut his palms, crushed his knuckles and had punches all over his face. Then having a soulmate wasn't as funny as everyone made it seem.

Love was supposed to be kind, beautiful and gentle, but Donghyuck never felt something besides pain. How was he supposed to love his soulmate then? Or just the whole soulmate idea. He didn't want to hate his soulmate, though, because he didn't know in what situation the other was living; nobody was hurt like that just because.

For a good part of his life he wondered what happened to his special person to be like this, and he got his answer in a way he wasn't expecting: Friday night, he was out with his friends and somehow ended up in the middle of a gang fight. He watched everything with scared eyes, he couldn't left because the bar was taken by the gangs and a cute boy was fist fighting with someone else. The other guy took a knife out of his pocket and suddenly he stabbed cute boy.

And then sharp pain came in waves to Donghyuck, in exactly the same place where cute guy was hurt.

The eyes of cute boy showed something bright and hateful, and if Donghyuck had to describe it, he'd say red.

Soon the guy that stabbed the other was in the ground with a broken nose and Donghyuck felt his knuckles on fire. 

It was soulmate pain. All that he was feeling, he wasn't actually feeling it, it was his soulmate, who transmitted his pain to him. 

"Take the leader out of here now, he's bleeding!"

"A little stab won't kill me," the cute boy said, with a smirk that looked drunk because the blood he lost. "He, however, looks like something that could have me very, very dead. Does it hurts, handsome?" cute boy completed, looking straight into Donghyuck's angry eyes.

Well, now the broken ribs made sense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as short as my notes ;) yeehaw


	3. constellation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kind of love that lasts forever and has the stars as witnesses.
> 
> yuil.
> 
> for vale ♡

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i realized this is actually a compilation of works that could easily be the beginning of different fics oof

** _Day 4, constellation_ **

_❝you have the thing that represents your relationship with your soulmate the most tattooed on your skin❞_

There’s a myth about the god of the heavens. He spent every day of his immortal life looking for his soulmate, the one he would love forever. Centuries passed and the god spent his time searching in every corner of the planet, until he found him. The prettiest, kindest human ever. His dear soulmate, who looked as if he had the stars in his eyes and the sun in his smile.

The god was so happy he found him that he decided to give him a gift, something as beautiful as the human himself. And thus, the god made a whole constellation in his honor; thousands of stars, all for his soulmate, who he loved with an endless force.

The human eventually died, but the god swore to find him in every single one of his lives. He'd spend the rest of the time looking for his soulmate, and loving him as if it was the first time they met. And every time they reunited one more time, one hundred new stars would be added to the constellation.

Taeil, a hopeless romantic, loved that myth. It made him smile, thinking about how devoted of their love the god was. Maybe the fact that his tattoo was a constellation affected the fact that it was his favorite myth and made his opinion biased, but he didn't care.

Actually, he found the myth because he was a space nerd, a lover of the stars, and an astronomy student. He was actually the one who was in charge of his college's observatory.

He liked all the constellations, of course, but there was one which took his attention all the time. It had the brightest stars and it looked almost as if two people were hugging. It was cute.

Taeil was looking at said constellation from one of the balconies in the observatory when a man entered. It wasn't weird to have people there, being that stars could be seen only at night, but for some reason, that man took Taeil's attention in the same way the constellation of the lovers did: familiar and without an explanation.

"Hey, hi." was what the man said, coming his way. His smile was wide and beautiful. He looked relieved and happy, his lips trembling a little and his voice shaky as well, as if it was caught in his throat. "I'm Yuta."

"I'm Taeil, the person in charge of this place." He introduced himself, smiling and taking the hand the other was offering as a greeting.

In his wrist, Yuta had a constellation too, and for one moment, he could have swore something shined behind him. Taeil looked over his shoulder and it seemed as if the sky had more stars than a second ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for vale bc i said tell me a pairing and she said yuil uwu


	4. dimension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's been searching for years, and he'll keep going if that means he can meet him.
> 
> chensung.
> 
> for eris ♡

** _Day 5, dimension_ **

_❝you have a draw of a flower that is the exact same as your soulmate's❞_

You have five years to find your soulmate or you lose the bond that connects you to them. It wouldn't be this hard if it wasn't because you have to search in millions of dimensions, because you don't know in which one your soulmate is.

The searching begins at age 15 and if by 20 you don't have your soulmate by your side, the interdimensional laws say you have to go back to your dimension and continue with life, knowing you lost the way to find your special person forever.

Jisung has been in a lot of places those two years of search, in at least 500 different dimensions, sometimes not staying in one for more than a few hours. Not like it was necessary, you're supposed to know if your soulmate is there, in that dimension.

When you get to the same dimension, it's a whole new feeling. His brother, Jaehyun, described it as anxiety, fear, bad things. It's not happiness and cheers, it's just you against time, trying to find someone you don't know in a place you have never been to.

Once you're in the same dimension as your soulmate, time's up, you have three days to find them.

He had never thought much about it before, feeling too young to care. He saw that moment as something far in the future, so when he got to dimension 000963, careless and sleepy, it took him a moment to realize he had a timer on his wrist, right beside the draw of a pink rose.

2:23:59:40

Two days with twenty three hours, fifty-nine minutes and forty seconds to find his soulmate.

He had been searching for two years. According to statistics, people usually find their soulmate in the fourth year of search. He knew of people who never met theirs. So yeah, Jisung wasn't expecting it to be so soon, but he wouldn't allow this chance to be wasted. He didn't expect it now, but if he was searching it meant he cared, he wanted to meet his soulmate. So forgetting about his tiredness, he started to run, looking for a pink rose.

He went from one place to another, feeling the presence of his soulmate far. He took trains, buses, even an airplane.

0:0:04:59

He ended up in a public garden. Some kids playing around and the sky cloudy. He knew his soulmate was there, he could feel it, but the place was big enough to make him want to cry because he had less than five minutes left.

So close.

Jsung was preparing to keep running around, searching for a pink rose, when he saw him. A boy was going to him, running as if there was no tomorrow. A pink rose on his wrist. Jisung gasped and run the last meters to the boy.

The timer stopped and disappeared, and the draw got its colors brighter.

"I-I've been looking for you for so long." was what the boy said, breathless and frenetic.

"You're here." Jisung mumbled, relieved. "You're here."

In that moment, Jisung realized, all that he did for two long years, far from home, wasn't in vain. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for eris because i said tell me a pairing and she said chensung uwu


	5. talisman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If he got old and ugly, and if death decided to come for him at that moment, he wouldn't care. Not if he had Jaemin by his side.
> 
> markmin.
> 
> for jess ♡

** _Day 6, talisman_ **

_❝you stop aging until you find your soulmate❞_

The women from the village told him goodbye while crying and asking to take care. The men wished him luck with sad faces. The kids hugged him, leaving tears and snot on his clothes. Even the dogs seemed anxious. Mark smiled, promising to be back in one week at most. The oldest woman walked to him, and he bowed. She caressed his cheek, looking at him with his knowing eyes, and offered him a tired smile. She gave him a talisman, a blue stone that shined with its own light. He took it with a tight hold. 

Soon, he's departing, with just a bag full of things he will need, his sword and the blue stone.

When he arrived to the village for the first time, he already had a reputation: he was a killer, the biggest killer of dangerous magical beings. He went around the world killing dragons and demons that tormented towns, and that was what he had been doing for centuries.

He liked that village, so he decided to stay, and the villagers were happy to have him there; a dragon hidden in the mountains had a bad aura which he set free, making the trees burn and the animals die, making people sick and weak. But there wasn't anyone skilled enough to go and seal the dragon's power. Of course, until Mark came and offered to do it himself. 

The dragon had lived in the forest for centuries, and the village had been there as well, so with the pass of the time, they learned some tricks, and between those it was the talisman, that was supposed to protect whoever had it from the big bad dragon of the forest. So it was a tradition to give Mark the talisman every time he went to seal the dragon's power.

It took him three days to arrive where he wanted, sleeping under the stars and eating what the nature offered, but eventually he got to see a little cabin in the middle of nowhere. It was small and cute, with flowers surrounding it. Mark didn't even wait to open the door and enter, finding the prettiest boy ever cooking something that looked delicious. Said boy stopped what he was doing and ran to Mark's arms, kissing him and hugging him. Mark giggled.

"Hey, I missed you." Mark said, his voice muffled by the other's shoulder, where he had his head resting.

"I missed you too… but goddammit, Mark. Throw that thing out, it's burning my skin." the boy complained, touching where his chest melted with Mark's, right where the talisman was resting under his shirt.

Mark did what he was told, and soon Jaemin, the prettiest boy already mentioned, was dragging him to the dining table, saying that the food was almost ready.

The first time Mark went for the dragon, he found a beautiful boy playing in a field full of flowers. The boy was actually the dragon, who told him his talisman was ugly and that it made him feel sick. Mark had a chat with him and the boy agreed to stop his aura if Mark went back to the forest to spend a week with him. Mark said yes and that was it.

Two years later, he knew Jaemin was something like his boyfriend, and realized he was aging. Mark was getting old.

Now, it was something incredibly because he wasn't supposed to age until he found his soulmate. No one aged until then, and Mark had a long, long life already.

It didn't take him a second to know it— it was Jaemin. Jaemin was his soulmate.

He went to the forest that same day, and took Jaemin by surprise one morning, when the dragon was watering his flowers, and shared what he discovered. The smile Jaemin gave him was wide and gentle, nodding and repeating the word soulmate.

The people in the village thought Mark was a good hunter of beasts who had tamed the dragon, and at some point he started to spend more time in the forest than in the village, but it was alright, because every now and then, Mark came back with a beautiful boy with great manners who was capable of cooking for the entire little town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for jess because i said tell me a pairing and she said markmin uwu


	6. enchanted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of how an enchanted boy found colors in other people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for alphabetas ♡

** _Day 7, enchanted_ **

_ ❝you have platonic soulmates that represent one color each, and you can't see said color until you find the soulmate that represents it❞ _

  


Jisung can’t remember when or how he got there, he only knew he woke up one day and he was in that place. A big field of nothing besides green grass and purple flowers. He had a cute cabin in which he lived. Oh, and he was a part of a paint, he lived inside of one, actually. The paint of a boy living in peace with nature.

He didn’t know for how long he had been there, as that place never changed. The sun was always there, almost hidden between the mountains, giving everything an orange tone, the flowers didn’t grow or die, and Jisung remained the same, just as everything outside his paint.

He had a bookshelf with lots and lots of books, which he eventually read. He read all the books more than eight times, even the ones he didn’t like because he was that bored. Soon he found himself looking at the old and dusty couch right in front of his paint. It was lonely and Jisung could feel it, the eternal silence and perpetual boredness. So one day he decided to go out his canvas, out his enchanted pain.

The first thing he noticed was that the outside world was colorless, thing that took him by surprise, so used to warm and bright colors. He wasn’t sure he liked that place, actually.

Turns out, the colors weren’t lost, you just had to find them.

Jisung found yellow in the smile of a cheerful and energetic boy called Donghyuck, and he got to see the color of his favorite shirt again.

He found red in Mark’s laugh, and he got to see the color of his favorite fruit. Mark was brave and fierce, and he was red.

Jisung found orange in Jaemin’s gentle embrace, and he got to appreciate the sunset once again

Blue appareaded in Chenle’s tears, and Jisung took him to the sea, where no one could know where his tears mixed with the salty water. The sea was big and blue, and Chenle’s eyes shined with emotion. 

At some point in april, in the middle of a random public garden, Jisung suddenly got to see his favorite flowers again, in Renjun's presence. He looked up, and there was Renjun, who stared back at him with surprise. “Green’s yours,” was what Renjun mumbled. Jisung smiled. “Nice to meet you, purple.”

Pink was a kind, soft color, and it belonged to a boy Jisung never got the chance to talk to. The boy was called Jeno by his mother and both of them took an airplane to who knows where. Jisung had been there to say goodbye to Chenle, who was going back to China for two weeks, when suddenly, a boy with eyes in the form of the moon passed by and offered Jisung a smile that carried with it the most beautiful pink ever. “Jeno, hurry!” was what the woman said, and Jeno obeyed, leaving Jisung the gift of pink and words in the tip of his tongue.

Jisung was an enchanted boy who came from an enchanted canvas, and even if that meant magic and greatness, nothing made him feel as impressed out of his mind as when he unlocked a color when certain people entered his life, even if for just a second.


	7. home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pain you feel when you know someone you love will die soon. And you can't do absolutely nothing about it.
> 
> nomin, major character death.
> 
> for bunnie ♡

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i asked and you said major character death is the only thing you ever do so i guessed you don't mind bunnie owo

** _Day 8, home_ **

_❝you have the last words your soulmate will say to you tattooed on your skin❞_

That day Jeno got out of their home knowing it was the day he'd ask Jaemin for marriage.

Jaemin made breakfast and the both of them went to take a cab since their car was broken.

The apartment they lived in was always clean and it was spacious, considering it was for four people but only two used it. They moved there three years ago, when they got out of college and started to take more seriously that thing they had.

High school sweethearts, was what people called them, because they had been together since then, and everyone knew they were destined, they'd grow old together and form a family.

Jeno wanted to put a ring on it. Jeno wanted to make it as official as possible. He woke up and Jaemin was still asleep, he kissed his forehead and went to take a shower before heading to the office he worked at. When he started to dress again, Jaemin was already finishing with their food, so they both ate together.

It was an image Jeno loved: Jaemin in the early morning illuminated by the soft yellow light that came from through the curtains of the kitchen window. His eyelashes were so obvious to the sight and with every blink that Jaemin took, Jeno felt as if his eyelashes caused hurricanes inside of his chest, full of love. That day Jaemin seemed to glow even more than usual.

He should have hugged him more, kissed him more. He should have touched his cheeks, caressed his hair, not only stare. But God, it was impossible not to stare. The art is to be seen, not touched, and yet, Jeno should have broken the rules and just touched, feel the warmth of Jaemin's skin one more time.

One last time.

Jaemin smiled and laughed and Jeno couldn't point what made him so special that day. Everything seemed to be orbiting around Jaemin, including Jeno.

Their home was so full of the both of them, not only because their belongings, but for the vibes, the ambient. When it was their neighborhood back in high school, it felt like home because it was Jaemin who was there with him, painting everything pink. Back in college, their tiny dorm room felt cozy and comfortable, even if it was small and the window was in front of of a football field with dry grass. The dorm felt so, so pink, and Jeno felt like crying because it was _home_. Now, years later, their apartment in the middle of busy Seoul felt as the neighborhood, the dorm and everything else, because it was Jaemin the one living there with Jeno. Pink, so pink. So Jaemin. So like home.

His boyfriend walked to their shared room, singing a song Jeno didn't bother to identify, too immersed in watching the other man. He wasn't so stupid, anyway, because he just couldn't resist and kissed Jaemin's bare shoulder when the other was looking for something nice to wear that day, shirtless. Jaemin giggled and Jeno felt it blue.

When they were putting their shoes on, Jeno talked to Jaemin about how excited he was to go back home and have dinner with him. "I'll cook tonight," Jeno promised, eager. Jaemin laughed and nodded, taking his keys and putting his jacket on. "Okay, I'd love that." and then proceed to joke about how Jeno didn't know how to heat the stove and how he should be careful.

Only you could see the tattoo on your arm, the heavy words between quotation marks that were a reminder everything has and end. The elderly say it's bad luck if you read those words to your partner, so it's a taboo to do it. Now, Jeno wonders if it would have been different if one evening he had approached Jaemin and read to him: "I love you, Jeno. Take care while I'm gone."

All the ride in the cab was spent laughing and talking. He told Jaemin he loved him, he talked to him about all the things they did all of those years, and Jeno didn't take his eyes off Jaemin for even a second, as if he needed to memorize his features, as if he didn't already had his lover's face etched on his mind.

Maybe his soul was feeling it already, the final departure.

Jeno got out of the cab when it let him in front of his office, and Jaemin smiled to him through the open window. Jeno felt like crying, suddenly. He blamed it to the fact that we was asking that man for marriage that same night.

"I love you." Jeno said, with the throat in a knot.

The other winked at him.

"Try not to burn the kitchen, honey." Jaemin said, joking. Jeno rolled his eyes, chuckling.

"Jaemin." he whined.

That was so generic. It wasn't a warning of what was coming, not for Jaemin, at least, because it was his fucking name. It was so common for him to hear that word that he wouldn't think anything of it.

"I love you, Jeno. Take care while I'm gone."

He didn't cry. He didn't froze. He knew Jaemin was referring to the dinner, he was asking him to take care and don't make a mess, but Jeno felt it different. He felt it right in his heart, and it felt like his world was ending.

He never, not even once, felt as bad as how he felt when he saw Jaemin's cab get lost in the traffic, with him being unable to do anything.

Standing there for who knows how long, he decided to look for his phone with trembling hands, discovering he didn't have it with him. His lips shook, and he took a weak breath. Destiny was harsh.

He walked to his apartment, maybe for more than one hour, and he didn’t register anything. He sat on the couch and looked at his phone on the little table in front of him. He didn't turn the lights on, just waiting for the call that would confirm everything. Maybe from the hospital, or from Jaemin's mom.

The apartment still smelt like Jaemin and was still pink, but Jeno felt how the color was fading away with every passing second.

If his phone rang he couldn't tell. Jeno only sat there until a pair of gentle arms pulled him to a warm chest and then Donghyuck was hugging him with so much force Jeno felt something break inside him.

"I'm here, Jeno. It'll be alright. I'm right here." was what Donghyuck told him, with shaking words and tight voice, and Jeno realized he was crying, soaking Hyuck's shirt.

A sob that sounded full of pain was heard, and it took him a while to get that it was him who was crying in that aching way. Hyuck hugged him tighter.

"It hurts so fucking much." He found himself babbling between tears and hiccups.

His chest hurt, and it felt so deep he could have sworn the pain reached to his soul.

For the first time ever, Jeno felt lonely. He was inside the place he called his own, but he felt homeless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pls let me apologize to everyone and myself for making this ;-;
> 
> pretty sad but hey this is the most words I've put in this compilation owo!!


	8. storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We can find love even in the things we hate.
> 
> dojae.
> 
> for paola ♡

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for the one who made two of my future fics look decent, endured my procrastination, my stupid gramatical mistakes and my dumb ideas, and not even once pressured me uwu ♡

_ **Day 9, storm** _

_❝you have a telepathic connection with your soulmate❞_

To be someone who hated the storms this much, they surely had a big importance in his life.

It was in the middle of a storm when he heard him for the first time. He hadn't realized how out of him he was until someone spoke right inside his head. That made him forget even the thunder that illuminated his room.

_Are you okay?_

Was the simple sentence he heard, in a pretty voice. What shocked him the most was the fact that he was talking with his soulmate, for the first time ever. And it was all because he was so fucking scared of the storm that even through his mental connection the other could tell.

_I'm fine, I just hate storms._

_Yeah, I can tell. It will go away soon._

Jaehyun relaxed on his cushions. Well, that was true, but even when he kept repeating that to himself over and over again, he couldn't believe it until his soulmate said it to him.

_It will go away soon._

Jaehyun was born in the middle of an uncharacteristic spring storm, the day of his graduation from high school it rained a lot, and it was the same the first day of college. The day he got his heart broken for the first time, the storm that fell over the city took with it trees. If he recalled a bit, he'd notice that in every moment of his life that was slightly important, it was raining. Funny how he was scared of storms but they were always present on his life.

The day he accorded to reunite with Doyoung, his soulmate, was a rainy day, of course. He was coming back from USA and his flight was delayed because of bad weather, which made him feel distressed. Emotions affect the soulmates connection, so he couldn't talk with Doyoung.

By the time he landed on Seoul, it was two hours past the accorded time of reunion. He lost his phone somewhere in America and the airline lost his luggage. They said they'd deliver it to his home, but he doubted it. He couldn't even take a cab because he had no money, so he had to walk to the cafe Doyoung and he accorded, in hopes the other didn't hate him too much and was still waiting.

But then it started to rain again. So Jaehyun was there, cold, soaked, jet lagged, tired, without luggage or money and the Cafe was fucking closed.

He stared at the door as if it had personally offended him. Jaehyun was about to blame the storm when he heard a breathless '_is that you?_' and it was in his mind, through his connection with Doyoung.

Jaehyun looked to the left and a tall and soaked man was running to him. The first thing that caught his attention was the eyes; they were as dark as a stormy sky, but as calm as a rainy day spent inside drinking tea, wrapped in fluffy blankets.

Now the thunders were in Jaehyun's stomach, making a mess there.

"Sorry I'm this late," Doyoung started once he was right in front Jaehyun. "My boss wouldn't let me go and my car suddenly stopped working so I took a cab but the rain made the traffic worse, I felt stressed and bad so I couldn't talk to you and—" 

"My flight got delayed," Jaehyun interrupted. "The airline lost my luggage. I didn't have money so I walked here. You made me wait like five seconds at most."

They both looked like fool's standing on the sidewalk without an umbrella in that rain, and the looks other people gave them made it clear, but they were too busy grinning at each other to notice.

A thunder was heard and the rain started to fall with more force.

"Nice to meet you, Jaehyun." Doyoung screamed over the sound of the rain, and Jaehyun laughed.

"Nice to meet you too, Doyoung."

Maybe only for that time, Jaehyun didn't hate the storms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> te dije que te iba a escribir un fanfic >:)


	9. reincarnation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In every universe and life, it's always them.
> 
> kunten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im reaaaaaally not sure if the grammar is alright in this one so i apologize for the mistakes unu

** _Day 10, reincarnation_ **

_❝you feel the world stop when you meet eyes with your soulmate❞_

Ten walked through the noisy street with light steps, hoping that no one would notice him.

He had to go home as soon as possible, but the police running behind him didn't make it easy. Soon, with the shouts of the men, people started to notice what was happening, and someone pushed him, making him fall. The policemen took him and made him stand with roughness.

"What is all this mess?" someone else asked, but Ten didn't look up.

"King Kun, we're very sorry you had to witness this. This boy here stole fruit and—" Ten stopped hearing and finally looked up, finding a pair of gentle but strict eyes.

Everything seemed to stop for a few seconds, barely enough to register what was happening. His breath got caught in his throat and as quick as it started, it stopped.

" I'll pay for him. Leave him to me." King Kun said, solemn.

…

It was close to eight in the morning and the cafeteria was recently opened. Kun was busy taking orders and preparing coffees, bringing pastries and smiling tightly to the customers. The morning rush was hell.

He usually avoided taking the early morning shift at all costs, opting to take the late morning shift, but he couldn't do that this day; Yukhei, who usually worked this hellish shift, was sick and the cafeteria was short on staff, so there he was, serving coffee as if his life depended on it— which, okay, maybe it did, since this job paid his bills and gave him the money to buy food.

The busiest hour was about to end, so Kun sighed, daydreaming about going to sit down for a while, when the bell of the door sounded and he had to prepare for another customer.

The man that entered was wrapped in a big coat, normal in that cold, and had with him two backpacks that seemed way too heavy for him alone, three books on his arms and his glasses were about to fall off his face. He looked like a mess. A cute mess, if Kun's tired eyes didn't lie to him.

He approached the counter without looking at Kun, too busy making sure his backpacks stayed in their place and trying to stop the books from slipping.

"Hello, good morning. What—" he started, with his people smile, but the man interrupted him.

"Hi, yes. Hello. Hi. Uh, can I get an—" and the man looked at him, with his glasses almost at the tip of his nose, and the world stopped for a second. "americano." He finished, with a small voice.

… 

The circus was booked specially for this occasion. A big fest was cooked and everything was decorated in bright colors, going from pink to yellow. The music could be heard everywhere in the city, the kids were running and singing and the older people were dancing and talking, celebrating the win the General Kun brought to the kingdom.

General Kun was seated right besides the king, but he wasn't paying that much attention. Why did they think it'd be good to hold a fest just after he and the army returned? He was so tired and bruised he couldn't pay any attention to anything else besides the fact that he couldn’t fall asleep in the King's presence.

The King was saying something about the famous foreigner circus they took there to perform in Kun's honor, and Kun smiled politely, saying how the King shouldn't have bothered and such, but the King laughed and dismissed that, shouting the cue for the circus to start.

The music and colors were a combination Kun had never seen before. So exotic and quick. The moves were sharp but the smiles on the dancers' faces were wide and amused. The presenter walked through the colors and crowd of people and stood in the middle of all that, with music still playing and the dancers still dancing, and said: "And now, let me introduce you to our most special flower, the best dancer you will ever see: Ten!" with that, everyone got out of the center and let the space free.

The candles and lamps that illuminated everything in bright colors were shutted down and replaced by one that gave a reddish light. A light and white mist started to fill the place and soon, a beautiful boy in thin and colorful clothes apparead, smiling without showing his teeth, and Kun fell in love. He was sure that was how love at first sight felt. His tiredness got lost in the way Ten’s hips moved, the way he walked gracefully, getting closer to the King and him, he giggled, a sound that wasn’t heard between all the music and stunned yelps everyone let out, shocked by Ten’s beauty and talent.

Kun didn’t believe in God, but he was sure Ten looked as the man the elderly assured was the one who made them all and the Earth.

Ten winked at someone besides Kun and without losing his enigmatic smile he looked straight at Kun’s impressed eyes, and everything stopped for Kun— literally.

In the warm lights and exotic music, surrounded by people he didn’t specially like, Kun found his soulmate in the prettiest man ever.

…

“Oh, Kun, meet my coworker, Taeyong.” his wife said enthusiastically, taking him by the arm and almost dragging him to the couple. He laughed, nodding. He knew how much his wife liked Taeyong, the man the only one she actually liked in the whole office.

That night was the annual dinner for everyone in his wife’s office, and it was important to assist, so they tucked the kids in bed and left them in Chenle’s care, the cute college boy that had been their babysitter since forever.

Taeyong was closer to him, so he introduced himself and shaked the other’s hand, who smiled and greeted them happily.

“This is my husband Ten.” Taeyong said, putting his arm around Ten’s waist. 

Kun smiled politely, looking towards Taeyong’s husband direction, only to find a bright and wide smile of perfect teeth and his world stopped for a second. He took Ten’s hand and felt his palm shake, as well as his lips. Kun said, in a breathless voice none other than Ten noticed:

“Nice to meet you, Ten.”

“Likewise, Kun.”

…

Ten tackled the man and both fell to the wet and cold ground, he quickly took his knife out of his pocket and made him turn around, so he could see the face of the man that would kill him, at least.

He didn’t know why someone would pay such money to kill someone as Qian Kun, but Ten wouldn’t question it as long as he got his money after this.

A second before he stabbed Kun, he looked down at him and connected eyes.

The world stopped, and with the fear and shock in Kun’s eyes, Ten didn’t hesitate.

…

He never hated his powers as much as he did in that moment. So used to never meeting someone’s eyes, he did it without a second thought now. But of course, only him and his luck could be in a situation like this: people sent a hero to kill him, nothing new, and even though he hated to do it, he had to use his powers in order to defend himself.

Ten removed the bandage from his eyes and opened them, staring at the man in front of him. One second, the world stopped, and the next second, the man was frozen, converted in hard stone, with a blooming smile at the realization of the fact that Ten, the so called monster that could turn people in stone, was actually his soulmate.

People said his powers were dangerous and he should be eliminated, that lots of people could be damaged, and it was the truth, but no one was as affected by that curse as much as Ten did.

…

The world stopped only when you exchanged stares with your soulmate for the first time, but Ten was sure every time he found Kun’s gaze already on him, the world stopped.

In the dorms, in the stage, in the middle of a busy street. Every single time he looked at Kun, and he looked back at him, he smiled at him, Ten not only felt his world stop, he felt his stomach drop and his heart accelerate and he felt as if the moon was colliding with the Earth. He was deeply in love, and he had the luck that said love was returned.

Ten looked around the practice room, searching for Kun, and he found the other, and if Kun’d eyes could, they’d be giggling, full of happiness at the sight of Ten, and he smiled with that dazzling charm of his. Ten sighed, relieved and sure that in every life, Kun was the one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look i know it's like three days after day 10 but i suddenly don't have time to even sleep so ;-;


	10. mythology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But what if the spring and the death loved each other since the beginning? What if it is actually a myth about forbidden love?
> 
> markhyuck.

** _Day 12, mythology_ **

_❝you have a tattoo that represents your soulmate❞_

As the God of spring, he was expected to do certain things. Bring joy into everyone’s lives, bring light and flowers, bring every beautiful in the nature. He was expected to give life, to see everything be birthed. Donghyuck was never associated with something like death or darkness, so to think about him marrying the Lord of the Underworld was something almost insulting.

Most of the Gods didn’t have tattoos, contrary to the humans. The Gods had very long lives, so to expect them to be with only one person, or to find someone who could live as long as them was hard. The few that actually had marks were couples of Gods, not a God and a human or something like that because soulmates were supposed to bring you happiness, and seeing the one you love die wasn’t pleasant.

In short, he went around without even thinking about soulmates, so when his mark apparead, in his late 300’s, it took him by surprise. It was right on the center of his chest and was tiny; a little skull of big eyes and cute smile. Donghyuck stared at it through his mirror with a frown, how was it possible to have a cute skull tattooed on his skin? And who did it represent? He didn’t get the answer to the last question until 100 years later, when he saw a man at the distance in one meeting he attended to with his mother.

“Who’s that person?” he asked, intrigued by the dark clothes the man wore and how lonely he was, everyone seemed to avoid him.

“Ah, that’s Mark.” his mother responded, grimacing. “He’s the God of the Underworld or whatever. Don’t go near to him.”

No one ever saw them interact, so it was a really big surprise when everyone found out Donghyuck, the God of spring, was kidnapped by Mark, the God of the Underworld. How did Mark get interested in Hyuck? They didn't even knew each other! 

His mother cried endlessly, his servants went crazy, the flowers died and the animals felt his absence. How dared Mark to steal the most precious and loved God? Not only the rest of the Gods were having a hard time, the humans did too, with dry fields and bad weather. 

What nobody knew was that Donghyuck and Mark planned all that. It wasn’t a kidnapping, Donghyuck went with him to the Underworld by his own decision, and they made it seem as that kind of situation because they weren’t supposed to be together, but curiosity got the best of them and ended up sneaking to see each other, to know each other better, and they got to see the tattoo the other had on the chest. Donghyuck’s skull and Mark’s sunflower.

They fell in love.

“If we make it seem as if you kidnapped me, they will hate you.” Donghyuck mumbled.

They were in Donghyuck’s room, sitting on the floor and with candles illuminating. Mark’s dark eyes looked like they absorbed the light, shining with a golden tone. He smiled at Donghyuck and held his hand, and Hyuck could only think about how Mark used to have a smile that was sad. He seemed to be always sad, even when laughing, but now, he couldn’t find said sadness, even if he searched for it.

“Everyone hates me already, Donghyuck. I rather to have them hating me, than them judging you; people expects the worst of me anyway, but you are their precious spring God. I don’t want to have that ruined for you.”

Donghyuck investigated, asked and talked with people, and discovered what was said about the Lord of the Underworld: mean, selfish and bad. The worst God. A demon. But then he got to know him better, he got to take long walks with Mark and he got to talk about their interests and likings, and he got to hear about how much Mark loved dogs and how he had problems to fall asleep, so he read books, lots of books. He found out Mark hated his job and felt lonely, he discovered about all the times Mark tried to be friendly and polite but everyone judged him and didn’t want to have anything with him, making him sad and even more shy, introverted, and eventually he stopped trying.

“I don’t want anyone to hate you.” was what he said, in a soft voice. Mark’s eyes got tender, and he giggled, kissing the back of Donghyuck’s hand.

“I can deal with it if you’re by my side.”

Everything went as planned, and soon they were married and living happily in the Underworld.

Eventually everyone stopped to care about Hyuck’s life as the other King of the Underworld, and even his mother stopped to cry uncontrollably every time he was not by her side.

Donghyuck didn't regret anything, but was sad because nothing would have happened if people wasn't so quick to judge. With a little smile and feeling the mark on his chest warm, he went to see his husband.

It wasn't the best way of get together as a couple, feigning a kidnapping, but it certainly worked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the end of this thing,,,,,, not good bro sorry :'/


	11. film

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knowing he was the same boy of always who was in love with his best friend made him realize everything was different now, or maybe not. Maybe it was just the same world in a different, gentler light.
> 
> nahyuck.
> 
> friends to lovers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> markless soulmates? im all in for it

** _Day 15, film_ **

_ ❝you just have to be in love❞ _

Everyone knows you fall in love only once in your life. That’s the way it is, you can be in love with your soulmate and your soulmate only. Then, all of those times when you think, you  _ feel _ , like you’re in love, what do they mean? Well, it may sound dumb, but you just like them a lot. When you think you’re in love but it’s not actually your soulmate, you’re just wishing that person was your soulmate.

The whole soulmate thing was very complex, and that’s why people loved “Dopamine and Souls” the film that narrates the story of soulmates, and how people found their true love. It showed real people telling how it was for them and all the struggles they went through to come to the realization that they were in love. Like, actual love.

Jaemin, Donghyuck’s best friend, dragged him to the cinema to see the film and it wasn’t that Donghyuck didn’t want to watch the movie, he did, because he was a romantic who was in love with the idea of love, but Jaemin wanted to see the fucking film at eight in the morning on sunday, and Donghyuck wasn’t having any of it, but of course that he got up and went with his best friend to the cinema, which was pretty much alone.

They went to their seats with lots of popcorn and candies and waited for it to start. Inside with them there were only two girls at the top of the row of seats and a middle aged couple close to the middle, where they two were.

It was interesting, but Donghyuck found himself distracted more often than not seeing Jaemin’s profile, the way the big screen illuminated his whole face and made his eyes shine in blue.

“I was in love with one of my friends and I didn’t even realize, you know. It is hard to know when you’re in love and when you’re just… being friendly.” was what a woman said in the film, and Donghyuck returned his attention to where he was supposed to have it.

The woman spoke in english, and that was something Hyuck really liked, how the director of the film kept the languages of everyone in there, adding subtitles and showing a big diversity of people all around the world, having one thing in common: they were lucky enough to know what true love was.

“How would you describe being in love?” the interviewer asked the same question to every person in the film, but everybody had a different answer.

“Ah, I don’t know. It’s hard. You just know it, feel it. For me it was like choking. I was there and okay, I kinda knew what was happening since before, I noticed certain things I did that she in particular provoqued in me that no one else did, so one day, seeing her sitting beside me, quiet and peaceful, all those things I noticed came to my mind and the dots connected in my mind, and then I felt like choking because oh gosh, I was in love with my best friend.”

“What kind of things?”

“In my worst days, when I didn’t want anyone close to me, I realized I longed for her to be there.”   
  


_ He knew only two things at that moment: the number one was that he was breaking into pieces, and the number two was that he really wished Jaemin was there, not to gather the broken pieces but to keep him accompanied while he put himself together again. _

_ “Please don’t leave.” he whispered when Jaemin arrived. Jaemin shook his head, holding his hand and looking at him directly in the eyes. _

_ “Never. I will never leave if you don’t want me to.” _   
  


“I found myself looking at her over and over again, and I didn’t even realize.”

In that very moment, Hyuck noticed he was looking at Jaemin while listening at what the woman was saying, and he stopped to blink for a second, with his eyes wide open, surprised.

“I’m kind of clingy with all of my friends, but with her it was different, with her I just wanted to hold her hand and never let go,”

_ “Happy birthday, Hyuckie!” Jaemin practically yelled at his face, but Donghyuck only giggled, lost in his friend’s big smile. _

_ “Thank you, thank you.” _

_ The next thing that happened was, of course, the classic hug you give when someone was having a birthday party. Jaemin put Hyuck close to him and the birthday boy let the warm embrace of Jaemin envelop him. Both of them visibly relaxed and closed their eyes, forgetting for a moment about Yangyang dancing on a table and Jeno screaming to get someone to bring him home or call a cab for him because he was way too drunk but Jaemin arrived there late because of college and— Donghyuck just wanted to hug him forever, to be this close forever. _

  
  


“It was just different. Everything was different around her. That’s the only way I could describe it: nothing was the same when she was involved.”

Oh, but for Hyuck even when it was different, it was the same. In the middle of that dark room, he realized things were different when he was with Jaemin, but they were the same still. How? Well, he liked him in a different way as he did with, let’s say, Renjun, one of his closest friends, but he was still his friend. The world was the same, but with Jaemin it seemed just different, brighter, kinder.

“I love you.” he whispered, and even with the noise of the film, Jaemin managed to hear him. He always had a bit of his attention on Donghyuck at all the times.

Jaemin turned his head to him, his hand half way to his mouth with a handful of popcorn. 

“You… do?” he asked, breathless

Donghyuck chuckled, nodding. He didn’t have to see himself to know he had the tenderest, softest look on his face; he didn’t know any other way to look in Jaemin’s direction.

“I do.”

“If bringing you to see a fucking movie about soulmates at eight in the morning didn’t make you realize it, I told myself I would deadass confess my undying love for you in a cupid costume. Thanks for not letting that happen, Hyuck, I can always count with you.” Jaemin joked, with tears threatening to spill everywhere, but laughing and smiling in a way that made Hyuck think that maybe the light in the room wasn’t from the screen, but rather from that smile.

He was the same Donghyuck of always, but he realized he was in love with the Jaemin of always, the same Jaemin who looked at him like he was the one keeping the sun burning, and that, oh God, that was different.


End file.
